A blog about about painting, design and other aspects of aesthetics along with a dash of non-art topics. The point-of-view is that modernism in art is an idea that has, after a century or more, been thoroughly tested and found wanting. Not to say that it should be abolished -- just put in its proper, diminished place.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

When Eduardo Benito Was in Vogue

Eduardo Benito (1891-1981) was an icon of the Art Deco era. When I was young I enjoyed seeing his work while flipping through library copies of old issues of the Art Directors Annual, a publication that taught me more than any other about the history of commercial art from the late 1920s into the 1950s.

Here is the best biographical information I could find about Benito on the Internet. It seems that magazine publishing magnate Condé Nast kept Benito busy doing covers for Vanity Fair when he wasn't producing Vogue covers for him. Not a bad gig for an illustrator from Spain.

I have s beautiful picture of the French bride from Eduardo Benito. It is really different almost like a resin version with gold in it. It’s stunning. Like a seLed paining. Framed and matted no glass. It’s sbout 16 x 22. Maybe bigger. Do you know what this style is concidered and it’s value? Thank you Lisa

Lisa -- There is no image of what you're discussing, I can only guess. Labels can be tricky because they're somewhat arbitrary, judgmental. Benito's style in this post's images might be called "Moderne" or "Art Deco" -- I prefer Moderne. As for value, I have no expertise on values: you need to talk to a dealer.

About Me

Undergraduate art major. Ph.D. in Sociology, Demography from a fancy Ivy university. Software system and user interface designer and programmer. Writing about art and design on the Internet since 2005.
Email: dbpittenger (at) earthlink.net